This invention relates to collapsible baggage or luggage carriers primarily intended for personal, non-commercial use.
Airline, bus and train passengers are well acquainted with having to walk long distances from a terminal entrance to their designated gate while burdened with heavy luggage. In order to make carrying and handling of luggage less burdensome, passengers often use apparatus that aids transport of luggage, such as rolling luggage carriers. But in order for the luggage carrier itself not to be a burden, the carrier preferably should fold into a compact shape so that it can be easily carried and stored when not in use. Additionally, the carrier should be light and simple to operate. Yet the carrier must also unfold into a strong structure that provides a stable base for luggage.
Present luggage carriers do not satisfy these design criteria. Typical of present carriers is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,565, variants of which are believed to be commercially offered. Such carriers generally have a rectangular frame and luggage support bed, both of which fold into a flat rectangular configuration having generous dimensions. Consequently, in transportation terminals one can observe that these folded carriers are often tied with elastic bungee cords to the outside of the traveler's suitcase when they are not in use. They are simply too big, even when folded, to comfortably fit within the traveler's suitcase. But even this large rectangular folded configuration necessitates a relatively narrow luggage support bed, so as not to increase the folded size even more. This results in a luggage support bed that is only minimally stable.